After Rook's fun start, Nall was pretty relaxed. There would be plenty of time tonight for winning this bet, he thought, and so far since then he had spent more time enjoying the state in which he found himself. Being free of gravity tended to be more of a luxury, but in his current state of being a Nightmare imp he felt he could waste a bit of time floating around, just a little black wisp looking for something good to get stuck into.

And ideas. Well, the City was divided below him; animals who preferred the sunlight were already shutting up shop and declaring today done. However, it was still pretty lively, streets covered in mud and brick and leaf, birds and mammals and the occasional giant insect pottering by.

Far from the bustle Nall set down by the edge of the City, disappearing into the shadows of the trees to watch passers-by. He felt Rook not far away, watching with her many eyes. The sight of them just at the edge of his vision reminded the weasley imp that he didn't have all night, and so he set about selecting a victim. Part of him wanted to start a bit more subtly, but he was fidgeting on the spot; his imp nature was just raring to do as much damage as it could. Gosh, he couldn't stop daydreaming! Nall bit his tongue and tried to focus on the people going by.

Although there was only one creature who caught his eye, and that was a small and brightly coloured red fox calling himself Spark who was trying to wiggle some coins out of the City dwellers. His tool of trade was an oversized paintbrush, held between gloved paws as he stood on his hind legs and doodled others - for a small fee! Although trade was winding down for the night, and so he seemed twitchy and eager to get away. Coins were moved from his hat into the pockets of his blue trousers by the handful.

Quiet little Nightmare thoughts whispered at Nall, and his paws tightened in the shadows; it'd be such a big and drastic change, infecting him with the blacks and purples of Halloween. That sort of impact made him grin, from the deepest part of his impish self; it would have made him drool, if he hadn't caught himself before that. Eee, these imps were proper animals, weren't they?

Nall's daydreams had escaped from his mind and they were gathering in the air around him. He felt a chill, as he began to change again; his features began to blur, and his feet sunk into the shadows, down and down until only green eyes were left, menacing and bright. Yikes, from Nightmare imp to shadow creature; this brand of mischief was more difficult than he had realised! And now he was stuck, although Nall's presence moved from shadow to shadow he couldn't pull out into the light, and Spark was about to leave!

Rook's sweet voice mocked him, as she whispered into the shadows, "You know, if this is too hard, you can give up any time."
Nall seethed quietly, and then his eyes closed; his senses moved from shadow to shadow, looking for presence and inspiration. A small hooded rat crept around the base of a nearby tree, and soft black paws grabbed him and pulled him down into the inky darkness. Shadows infected the feral creature until his fur turned black and his eyes became a shiny red, and then Nall let him go with a single task impressed upon him. Even Rook felt the chill in the air as the familiar worked his magic, and she looked on with curiosity.

It was a bit anticlimactic when the rat caught up with Spark, and all he did was pounce and disappear into the fox's own shadow. Rook felt a bit irritated when nothing seemed to happen, until her own shadow sat up and grinned widely, as Nall continued to learn the extents of his abilities. "Shh. Just wait."

Spark had no idea he was the subject of such scrutiny for these two playful imps. Actually, he was feeling pleased with the day, and with his giant paint brush up against his shoulder he was heading back into the City to get some well-earned dinner before he could head to his bed. The path was long and lined with tall lamps on either side, powered with fire and magic, but as the fox passed each pair they both flickered a bit before going out in a puff of smoke. The first time it was weird, but every time after that it became more and more of a coincidence and Spark started to feel a bit unnerved.
"Come on, maybe that's how they switch off," he mumbled to himself. Perhaps so, but it was still scary!

There seemed to be little voices nearby, as well. Spark hadn't noticed at first, but it began with little chitters and escalated gently until it seemed that just behind him there was a great scuffling, and squeaking, and the patter of tiny feet. He looked behind him more than once, but there was nothing there. Nobody was around. The lights ahead of him went dim, which made the fox's bright fur stand on end as he was wrapped in darkness. Eyes seemed to be upon him, and his ears pricked up in fright; Spark started to run.

The lights continued to switch off after him, but he managed to get ahead again. Although, in his haste he wasn't really looking where he was going; suddenly there was someone in his way. He did yell, but even so, the two collided and Spark wound up on his front, coins falling from his pockets over the ground. The fox had collided with a furry red kobold, who had been a bit stunned by this sudden turn of events before his face grew a harsh scowl.
"Hey! Calm down, watch where you're going. Not scared of the dark, are you?"
Spark tripped over his words, "B-but, but… something was there. Um. I think I managed to get away though." His paintbrush had spilled a bit of paint on the path, decorating it in a mixture of colours, and he pulled it up close to himself.

"Where? I don't see anything. Well, 'sides from your shiny coins, which I think are now mine. Property of Shale," said the rogue, gathering them up for the floor.
The fox bristled and got back up to his feet. "N-nuh, they're mine, I earned them. Give those back."
"Well, easy come easy go. Don't get in the way next time," said Shale, looking over at the fox. Now Spark might have been taller, but he certainly wasn't winning any fights, and the kobold wasn't in the best of moods. He'd have a few bruises after that collision.
"You're really white as a sheet, I don't know what you saw out there, but it's scared you pretty good.

The lights on either side of the path picked that moment to go out, and Spark froze. His shadow was illuminated from nearby, and it stretched off all the way down the path from where he had come. In that murky black patch he could see hundred, maybe thousands of little red eyes, shining and glistening and staring back up at him. The ground and the air seemed to be full of menacing rats, who had been quickly and quietly multiplying inside the fox's shadow, urged on by his fear and panic. The colour seemed to drain from him and he tried to get away, but they were his shadow; immediately they were upon him, little teeth and claws and little bundles of warmth.

The swarm of rodents trapped in the fox's shadow began to clamber over him. Their darkness painted over the fox like warm ink, blotting out his tail and his feet and clambering up his body, a living tangle of darkness and mischief. Under the duress Spark began to shrink, his toony fur became a mix of black and purple and his feet became wickedly clawed. The whispers became voices, so many rats stuck in his shadow! If they could take over Spark and make him one of their own then they'd be free, hundreds and thousands of nightmarish rats to add to the Halloween mood of the City. The red fox wasn't in a position to complain, as his muzzle jutted out sharply and sharp teeth came into view; long, matted whiskers and eyes wavering between foxy blue and ratty red. The swarm was devouring him, remaking him as a giant rat, his cries of help turning to squeals of terror and delight. Ooh, it was so scary at first, but all those whispers of his companions aligned in his mind; it was so warm and comfortable to be a single voice alongside so many. Red fur had given way to dark, wiry rat fuzz, and his change was complete; Spark stood surrounded by his new brothers and sisters, and the light no longer held them back.

The kobold couldn't tear his eyes away. Shale had dropped the few coins he was in the middle of thieving, and had made the wise move to high-tail it to the nearest tall lamp, hugging it so tightly that his paws were beginning to ache. Under the bright fire he felt safe, until the first rats crept into the light - matte black with beady red eyes, swarming and scurrying into tree-buildings and over the paths, under bridges and into the shadowy corners of the City, bit by bit. A massive plague of rats, then; their presence teemed at the edge of vision. Shale wasn't really one to get scared, but this was just beyond his experience; once the rats seemed unafraid of the light, his instinct for survival kicked in and away he ran.

Nope, he thought. He was out of there, it was not worth it for a few gold. Poor fox, but what's a kobold to do against that? Just nope. Nope nope nope. Shale was quicker than Spark and knew the city better as well, and he hurried away from the quiet outskirts towards a busier section of the City, where he wouldn't just be reliant on street lights to keep the nasties at bay. Maybe the kobold should tell someone about what he just saw? It wasn't really his style to get involved. Eh, there were plenty of little creatures around here already, a few thousand more wouldn't make any difference.

And yet, now that he had seen them, Shale couldn't really unsee them. Shadows behind doors, under trees, on the highest of bridges and down the deepest of holes, in each one the kobold saw eyes flickering. Rats crept freely up vines and ivy, simply everywhere like a flood had descended upon the Forgotten City. Ah, but he was an adventurer, he could handle this. He just needed to calm down and stop being afraid of the silly little rats in the dark.

Nall recovered his wits and crept out of the shadows, his appearance changed to be like one of the night-time rats he had brought to the City. At the back of his mind he could hear them all, chittering away, new thoughts appearing at a slow pace as the swarm slowly spread to others of the City, rendering them too into nice dark rats. The familiar kept his green eyes, and after finishing with the fox and letting the new rat leader manage his unruly family, he had chosen to follow the kobold instead. Here, vines and ivy and leaves grew thick, and little nightmare critters hid in every corner. Shale had been touched by Nightmare, and he could see it; a little black mist that he couldn't shake. Quiet, slow fear that tunneled its way inside, here much more insidious than the way it had taken over Spark.

"Very artful," Rook murmured to Nall. "But you're still just hiding in the shadows, aren't you?"
Nall ignored her, and instead concentrated on his next victim, sneaking up to where Shale was gathering his breath.
Rook wasn't beyond cheating, and she whispered a little spell which caught Nall's ears and got into his thoughts, making him yelp as his spine clicked and he grew quite suddenly. the little rat stretched, head and ears growing, heavier paws not so nimble on the ground. Shale heard the noise, and came across a little slinky black rat boy, his eyes all shiny and green, looking very confused at being on two feet. Shale could only see the one rat, and he reacted at once, claws and dagger out as he leapt upon the surprised creature.
"Following me, eh? I'm not so easy to fuck with, you're gonna regret it!"
This turned into a bit of a scrap, with the clumsy Nall trying to dodge and wriggle away from the larger kobold. Ratty teeth bit down, hard; ratty paws clamped on as best they could, and the familiar's powers of nightmare and mischief flooded into the fuzzy creature by instinct.

At once Shale's nose filled with a deep, sulphurous smell; his whole body seemed to be burning from the inside, his clothes peeling and flaking. The piercings in his ears began to melt and he just couldn't think any more; everything was feeling and sensation and fright. Why had he attacked the darkness? He felt silly and angry and scared. Nall backed away, his paws and eyes glowing with a deep green light, the wounds on Shale sharing much the same glow.
People were staring now, the fight had attracted their attention but it hadn't lasted long and now the magical rat and his spell seemed to be gathering attention. A smallish white stoat looked like he might get involved. A young blue gryphon seemed quite curious about the magic. A brown and white goat boy was trying to get away from the fight without drawing much attention to himself. Nall saw them, but very quickly looked back to Shale.

The magic coursed through the kobold's body, burning and blackening his fur, filling him with a heat and a pressure that he didn't seem to be able to shift. Shale knew it was a spell, but at this point there wasn't much he could do. His arms felt heavy, and then began to stretch out to either side, long and thin and dark limbs. Soft thin furry folds of skin connected arms to body, catching the wind and fluttering just a little. The kobold's body was twisted upwards, thin and gaunt with ears that were yanked fiercely up, pointed and stretched, all black with greyish insides. His feet grew long and thin with claws, though he kept a layer of thin felt like fur all over his growing body. Shiny red eyes and bright white teeth were the most visible, a pair of fangs either side of his stretching mouth. Six feet, eight feet, more; the winged creature grew and grew, towering over the little nightmare ratboy. His embarrassment and fear gave way to an awareness of his size and a deep, natural rage; now he was a giant vampire bat, black as any creature of Nightmare should be. The bat's wounds sealed up, and his eyes focused on the little familiar below; his wingspan reached from tree to tree, the tops of his ears poking into the canopy of the forest.

And yet for all this size, for the personality change that had come across the bat so completely, the rat's accidental spell wasn't done yet. It bubbled inside the bat, making him as big as it could, before a shiver went through the colossal creature. It was just a moment before the bat dissolved into tens, hundreds, thousands of smaller vampire bats which filled the air and turned the evening black, covering up what was left of the sun. Before anyone could act, the air was a living cloud of bats, another swarm of terror - but this time with wings, and a hunger!
The sound had attracted attention from treehouses nearby, but suddenly all was bedlam; bats entered houses and tunnels and caves, shocked City folk were roused from their beds by the beating of wings and the nibbling of mischievous teeth. Still rich with power, a few of these groups of bats were causing their own new swarm-mates to be formed. A stoat was wriggling and shrinking, black fur spreading all over his body and sharp teeth grinning as he played with bats who would soon be his companions; a goat tried to fight them off with hooves, but disappeared in a curtain of wings and eyes; a gryphon took to the skies, but bats were perfectly capable of doing that as well.

Nall himself was the target of a few dozen bats, covered over and trying to wriggle himself free, but to no avail. His own rodent body started to feel that familiar flow of magic and change, arms spreading out wide, nose and ears pulling out with a warm ripple like he was all made of treacle. Mischief turned his face into a big grin; today was going to be great!